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I'm a beginner, mostly self-taught myself and just started working with a teacher. I grew up playing video games (and still play some) but fell in love with the music. I'm learning mainly easy classical stuff to practice sight reading now but have started working on some of the easier video game songs I love.

Working on some of the Final Fantasy Piano Collections music (from Final Fantasy 3) - check it out on youtube, it's beautiful piano music a lot of you might not know of. The composer is Nobuo Uematsu.

I'm in the NY area, weather is finally improving.. won't be missing winter! Loving piano though, seeing improvement day by day and staying patient with it.

Lost Woods
Full Member
Registered: 03/11/13
Posts: 105
Loc: The Netherlands

Hello there... I thought it was a good idea to start here I'm male, 24 years old living in the Netherlands.

In my parents house we have a piano and before I started playing the piano it was "nothing more" than a nice piece of decoration (nobody played it, although my father always said he thought someone eventually would). When a friend of mine came by a few years ago and started playing on our piano I was blown away by the sound of the instrument, that was the first moment the piano really got my attention. Next to that I saw some piano playing on youtube so I thought about trying it myself. I started with some "easy" tunes, not knowing about scales, chords etc. The music I searched for and played where relatively short videogame pieces, cause I have this strong emotional (nostalgic?) connection with soundtracks from videogames I played a lot. These where all youtube tutorials; Zelda's lullaby, song of storms, gerudo valley etc.

So fine so good, nothing special.. no real practising, just some playing... but the Piano got my attention more and more.. and when I started to play this game called "Eternal Sonata", I heard Chopin's Raindrop Prelude and it really, really touched me. This was actually the starting point where I decided I wanted to learn to play the piano seriously.

So here I am, I've had 2 years of lessons from age 22 and piano (music and playing) has taken a central place in my life . At this time I prefer playing classical/romantic, jazz and ragtime. I think this forum is one big collection of piano knowledge and I'm looking forward to be part of it

Welcome to the forum, Lost Woods. You are right. There is a vast amount of piano knowledge in the collective experience of those on the forum. Most are more than willing to share that knowlege with you.

Lost Woods
Full Member
Registered: 03/11/13
Posts: 105
Loc: The Netherlands

Originally Posted By: JimF

Are you working on any interesting pieces right now?

Well that's actually a good question. I hope to find a new piano teacher soon since I moved back to my hometown. My last teacher was bassicaly giving me more Jazz lessons than classical (although he made me play invention, fugues, part of sonatina/sonata and much more). So atm I'm not really working on something particular. Trying to improve my sight reading, chord knowledge, hand independence, rythm, walking basslines.

Playing around with voicing/bass of standards "someday my prince will come" and "my favorite things". Improvising over modal vamps (Dave Frank masterclass youtube). Playing some chopin waltzes.

Choose any piece you like and start working on it. But don't be too "ambitious"... pieces above your skills can be counterproductive. Put some milestones to help you getting focused on your progress.Good luck!

Like the way you got introduced to piano, Lost Woods. It's amazing that nobody had played on your parents' piano before! It is a beautiful piece of furniture, of course, but even more so when it is singing

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David Lanz - Dark HorseYiruma - River Flows In You

I thought I would introduce myself. I'm Heather and I'm 41 and live in Georgia. I took piano lessons when I was a kid and I always liked it, but never wanted to practice and finally gave up when I was a preteen. As an adult I hate the fact that I never practiced and then finally gave up.

Fast forward to today ... my 7-year-old daughter began lessons last year and that prompted me to dig out my old Bastien piano lesson books (which I have kept through the years). I went through them all and decided to buy the Alfred Adult All-In-One Course books (Level 1-3). I like them and have been progressing through them on my own, although I'm thinking of beginning lessons too.

About a month ago my husband and I decided to buy an upright piano - we have been using a digital piano. So last week we took the plunge and I'm happy to say that it arrived here on Tuesday and is a lovely addition to our home.

I'm wanting to learn more and more now ... to progress beyond where I am (Currently I am focusing on perfecting what I am learning in Alfred Course Book 2). In the course of purchasing a piano someone asked me the other day what is my repertoire. Ummm ... not sure. Beginner? ha I like to play just about everything ... classical, popular, but I haven't really tried my hand at jazz yet. But I am definitely a beginner! I honestly would love to be able to just sit at the piano and just play music to listen to and I would also love to play accompaniment so that others, like my children, can sing.

So that's a little about me. I'm glad to come out of lurking and join the discussions

60 Yrs OLDI'll be 61 late October. I am living in Tampa Florida. I live with my wife and one of out grand daughters. I have lived in Florida all my life. I love going to church, gospel music, fresh water fishing and playing golf. I love to sing along with a piano but have never played. In high school I played the French Horn in the concert band and marching band. I have been thinking about learning the piano. I do keep up a Piano Playing Advice Website.There you are my current life._________________________

Not sure if I already posted in here but I'm a 46 year old pianophile that doesnt yet have a piano! I've wanted one since I was a kid but its failed to happen yet! I have 2 young kids that are to money what a sponge is to water,and we need to move house in a few years. I've been promised an old upright then-can't wait.But for now Im learning acoustic guitar (steel strings) but progress is s l o w.I have a yamaha keyboard but its put away as theres no room to put it up permanently. One day I'll get there. Its why I dont post here much-I've nothing to contribute. Oh well...

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If the piano is the King of instruments then I am its loyal servant.My SoundcloudCasio Celviano AP-450

Hello, everyone. I'm glad I found this piano forum online - it's got so much useful, quality information, and the people seem to be welcoming and friendly so far.

I'm 28, male, and from Vancouver, Canada. I started piano lessons at the age of 10 - after begging my parents to buy an upright and to put me into lessons (and my younger sister hated me for pushing this endeavour, as she was also put into lessons as a result).

I reached grade/level 9 with the Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada and had to stop as school work was getting a bit hectic. I stopped for years and years and it wasn't until recently (9 months ago) that I started playing again. I'm currently playing on a Yamaha digital piano (P-155) that I acquired, secondhand, for $1000 and my wife loves it because I can play with the headphones on (she actually made that mandatory). I recall that she once described my playing as "worse than the sound of fingernails running down a chalkboard." I disagree.

The number "57" in my username was chosen because it's one of my favourite numbers. You must be curious now as to why. I just know you're itching to find out. Okay, well, my favourite piano pieces of all time are Beethoven's Sonata No. 23, Op. 57 and Mozart's Sonata No. 14, K. 457. Trivial, I know.

It's wonderful that music speaks to everyone in different ways and brings people from all walks of life together to experience such a treasure - this forum is proof of that, and is especially apparent in this thread.

I hope to learn as much as I can from everyone here, and I will try my utmost to contribute what I can, when I can.

Hi there people. I'm 32, female, an an Australian living in London, UK.

Piano's been part of my life since i was a very small child. I started at 4, and played my way through to 18, when I did my A.Mus.A (Australian equivalent of the ABRSM diploma, I think) and in the same year took piano performance for my Higher School Certificate. I was playing about 4-6 hours a day, toying with going to the Conservatory for university, but then... I don't know, something made me stop once my exams were over. I decided to take "three months off" to focus on other things and take a breather, and all of a sudden just stopped playing, and didn't go back. Weird, I know. My teacher was upset, but after a while other things became important and I drifted away from music altogether.

For the past 15 years I've been feeling guilty about throwing it away - that's a long time to feel guilty! So this year I decided to do something about it, and signed up for lessons. I was terrified going to my first lesson that I'd remember nothing and look like a complete idiot, but pleased to report that it's like riding a bicycle - it never really goes away. My technique is all over the place and I'm definitely not as fast or strong as I used to be, but the basics are all still there. Weirdly, some things like sight reading seem to have improved, which is a bonus - I used to hate sight reading. So I'm not exactly a beginner, but I certainly feel like one - there's a lot to learn and re-learn, and i have a lot of work to do!

So now I'm working with my teacher to build some repertoire pieces, and maybe looking to do some recitals or enter some competitions next year (that's a very big maybe... I'm not very confident at the moment.). I am trying not to be too hard on myself and practice in a slow, disciplined way.

The pieces I'm working on at the moment are Mozart's Fantasia in D Minor - I love Mozart! I'm also learning Shostakovich's Prelude and Fugue No. 4, and just started on the amazing, fiendishly difficult Allegro di Concierto by the Spanish composer Granados (such a great piece, but I have so much work to do to master it.) In my own time I'm tinkering around with some pieces I used to play - Mozart's Fantasia in C minor, nocturnes by Chopin and John Field, a Khatchaturian Toccata. i only have my husband's Fender Rhodes to practice on at the moment, but hopefully getting an old reconditioned upright next month.

Sorry, this was really long! I'm really excited about coming back to the piano - it feels like coming home. I hope i can share practice tips, ideas and thoughts with this community - so great that something like this exists, piano can be an isolated instrument at times.

Hi everyone, I’m Pedro from the west coast of Portugal, I’m 29 (30 next week :)). I’m a food engineer, working on a multinational of frozen vegetables.

I start playing piano (self-learn) with a Casio CTK-601 for a year probably sixteen years ago and stopped. Restart a year ago and now “seriously”, I purchased a Yamaha CLP-470 that really inspires me to play every day.

I'm a 33-year old male from Turkey. I started playing 6 months ago and I own a Casio Celviano. I take piano lessons once a week and follow Denes Agay's "Learning to Play Piano". Finished first book and right now almost halfway through the second one.

I think that music education is painfully slow and it takes years to master all different fields; sight-reading, playing by ear, improvisation, memorizing piano pieces, composition etc. There is no magic pill or a shortcut to become a good piano player. So, I try to devote at least an hour a day to my piano studies.

I love listening to piano, why not make the music yourself? There is no contest, no hurry. As you said, I do it for the fun. Creating beauty(hopefully) and expressing yourself through piano comes as a bonus!

I love listening to piano, why not make the music yourself? There is no contest, no hurry. As you said, I do it for the fun. Creating beauty(hopefully) and expressing yourself through piano comes as a bonus!

I m 62 and new to forum so will post info later but just wanted to reply here in case I can't find this place again. I love scuba and llamas, hand spinning some right now but mostly I knit if I'm not playing piano or diving!

Let me introduce myself. I am a returning student at 62 and played as a young girl.I am now retired and happy grandma of two girls, and mom to 3 grown sons who grew up in homes in Lafayette California and Incline Village Nevada. All now married and artists in their own right two of whom live in boulder CO.Still with my first hubby of 40 yrs!Currently spend half the year in Kelowna and Cayman. Love Music, Writing, Knitting ( have hand spun some llama fleece!) and Scuba diving.

Here is a letter about myself I put up on a different thread but I think it needs to be here as well.

My childhood teachers were ivory thumpers so I never was taught correct technique. I grew up in a small fishing town in Wales which had only a limited number of piano teachers of any talent. Being a clever girl a lot was expected of me. Then eventually frustration set in as my technique did not allow me to be successful with the more advanced pieces. I soldiered on and developed lots of bad habits. I was asked to accompany all sorts and took to thumping out the left hand and glossing over a lot of the right - especially those very black passages!

I carried on with music studies through age 18 so covered a lot of theory, played viola- because I was able to read the score - and sang alto in lots of choirs - because, you guessed it, I could read the score.

The whole family were core members of the local amateur operatic and dramatic society putting on musicals and pantomimes twice a year. Music was always lots of fun, and noisy! I had three sisters and we had two pianos in the house and often we'd try to drown each other out at practice time. And heaven forbid you'd stop anyone from thumping out their frustrations! Imagine the hair-pulling that might go on otherwise!

Life took me on to study natural sciences, law and accounting, at Cambridge and in the City. Music took a sad back seat.

I kept sane through motherhood, after emmigrating to Monteal in '75, attempting some Schubert waltzes, Debusy's Fille, and Claire de Lune, another Beethoven sonata, and led a few choirs. My boys , all three, were entertained as little kids with lots of music, not least was acting out Peter and the Wolf, which so enthralled them they had me come play for 'show and tell' in their kindergarden classes! This they attribute to their all becoming musicians and touring the USA as a rock and roll band together for 10 years before life took over and they started to settle down. They all are still involved in the music world in different ways.

I recently was challenged to write my life in six words and one answer was 'Whims I follow now are mine' - one of which is to return to the piano.

I was given a beautiful Yamaha grand ( don't remember which one, the big concert grand) for my 55th birthday but old frustrations have kept me from really playing this beautiful instrument. This is up in our winery in Kelowna BC Canada where we spend the summer months. My other passion is scuba diving so when I'm not practicing I am often underwater! When we came down last November to spend winter here in Cayman, I saw they have a new music school right opposite our condominium complex. I felt I really had no more excuses to hold back my love of playing the piano so walked across the road and started lessons right away. I had no idea that Mr Simeon Panov was such an amazing musician and feel incredibly lucky to have him help me start again. I have since heard him play at a few concerts down here and am humbled!

I have a Roland keyboard here, placed such that I look out over the beach and the palm trees and there's every incentive to practice. I didn't bring a lot of music down with me - I wasn't expecting to need it! Exploring on-line I discover Virtual Music - and your amazing videos. What a wonderful resource and thank you so much for putting it all together. Thank you for the reference to iCS scores.

I started back working on Bach's Cm Prelude and Fugue. Years ago I would have thought it a piece of cake. Now I have to pay attention even to how I am sitting let alone touch those keys. It has really made an incredible difference to understand how to hold your hands. Hours pass and the 'blackness' of the score no longer scares me!

It might take me longer to really learn these days but the results of persevering - practicing - are so worth while!

I remember playing Moonlight for a recital when I was12 (OMG, that's 50 yrs ago!) but perhaps I'll go watch your video and check that I have the pedaling right!I've just started Mozart sonata 545, which will make me feel I can play again! and opened the page to try Debussy's Fille to see how I manage that after all these years

Strange as it my seem I don't know anyone else who plays so a million thanks to everyone for sharing so much of your talent and time on-line. I am sure it will become part of my daily regime to check in!

Palmpirate, welcome to PW!So you have: a Yamaha piano (plus a keyboard), a teacher, plenty of time, a family of artists and, more important, love for the music. I think you have everything to be able to play again.Good luck!

Absolutely loving it ! But only have teacher til next week . I return next November so should have something to show him by then! Leaving for Lisbon next Wenesday , how about that! We're off to taste wine up the Duoro eventually. Any concerts I should know about?

Hello.* 24 year old guy;* I will like to play the piano for hobby, but my goals are just exaggerated (I like complex stuff like Scriabin's, etc) and since you are supposed to start with simple pieces I loose motivation;* I'm probably the worst person in this planet for what concerns motivation, in every field.* I think I'm pretty good at listening and composing.

So, what is your problem with motivation? The mere fact of you being to write in this forum implies that you can not be without motivation. There are many ways to keep up motivation and following this forum is one of them.What is your experience with music?